I have a pretty random question about high-end denim. When I try to explain to people the idea behind paying over $200 for a pair of jeans I generally talk about how they're made using high quality materials and constructions similar to those used before companies like Levi sacrificed quality in order to make jeans as efficiently and quickly as possible--so basically they're made like jeans "used to be made". Their response is invariably to ask , if they cost so much today, how the hell people "back then" could possibly afford them. Can anyone offer any insight? Am I just wrong in my argument?

Prices now are not the same as prices back then. Do you think the real value of a dollar is constant?

Prices now are not the same as prices back then. Do you think the real value of a dollar is constant?

I understand that, but if LVC 1947 501's cost way too much, to the average American today then how the hell could people afford them when they were actually made in 1947 (in a far poorer country)? Obviously they didn't cost $250 in 1947 but presumably they cost roughly the same in 1947 dollars. It seems to me like either a) companies today charge a huge premium because people like the idea of buying clothes the way they "used to be made" or b) people today have just gotten used to really cheap consumer goods and expect to pay very little for them

I understand that, but if LVC 1947 501's cost way too much, to the average American today then how the hell could people afford them when they were actually made in 1947 (in a far poorer country)? Obviously they didn't cost $250 in 1947 but presumably they cost roughly the same in 1947 dollars. It seems to me like either a) companies today charge a huge premium because people like the idea of buying clothes the way they "used to be made" or b) people today have just gotten used to really cheap consumer goods and expect to pay very little for them

So where should product reviews go? The RP thread doesn't seem like the best place, since posts are so short and it moves so fast. Should they just go in the relevant topic thread, e.g., - Sneakers go in baller or non-baller threads - Clarks DBs go in the Clarks DB thread - MDLFNGR t-shirts go in the MDLFNGR thread Some of us don't have blogs, after all.

I wonder if jeans enthusiasts make the same arguments about aspirin. Bayer is a zillion times more expensive than generic -- yet chemically, constitutionally, aspirin is aspirin, and cotton is cotton. But whatevs. Bayer has "better materials". I'll wager coal miners had some pretty durable duds back in the day; they certainly weren't paying $200 for the curious blue fabric squares that protected their knees from nicks and scrapes -- even back when machine-made doodads were more novel.